Through the Lens
by JelpHasNails
Summary: Someone has been watching everyone's favorite sleuth close enough to have stumbled dangerously near to the truth. Lies, secrets, kidnappings, and bombs all await Edogawa Conan from behind the lens.
1. Chapter 1: Faxes

I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 1: Faxes**

For 3:15pm on a Friday afternoon, the sounds of the Metropolitan Police Headquarters were more subdued than usual. Several eyes glanced over to the fax machine while still others looked toward the doorway: their hunched shoulders indicating their tension while waiting for news.

Megure-keibu sat in his office, four faxes spread in front of him arranged in the order of the date they'd been received. For the past four consecutive days, faxes had been sent to the department having started on Monday of that week in the following order:

Monday's fax: _'If you police officers don't protect him, he will die.'_

Tuesday's fax: _'He has saved you police officers before. It's time you save him.'_

Wednesday's fax: _'He has brought many killers to justice. His own killer needs to find justice.'_

Thursday's fax: _'Without his help, people would have died. If he dies, more will follow.'_

The ambiguous nature of the notices had left the department baffled. The sender clearly felt a semblance of concern for the person they sent the faxes for. But the question was: did the person want the police to stop the perpetrator from harming the person in question? And if that was the case, was this a warning that something _had _happened or that something _would _happen? Or perhaps both?

While there was little to go on, there were still key pieces of information that the police had discerned from the messages.

The "victim" was male. He was presumably in danger, though not necessarily immediate. There seemed to be an urgency in the tone, but at the same time, if the faxer had wanted the police to protect "him" then the sender could have sent out more information.

Sometimes perpetrators sent out a warning as a means to challenge the police. Other times they sent out warnings because they didn't really want to hurt others. The person who was sending the faxes could very well be the same person who was planning on hurting the would-be victim. Trying to enlist the police's help before someone got hurt happened once in a blue moon, but it meant that it was still a possibility. While the Metropolitan Police Department was not ruling out these possibilities, Megure-keibu's gut instincts told him that the sender was someone different than the person who was after the "victim" mentioned in the faxes.

At the same time, he had a feeling that if the police didn't do something soon, the one sending the faxes would. It was as though the person who was sending the faxes felt little faith in the police but felt that they needed to be notified and given a chance. If they failed, Megure-keibu didn't want to think of the outcome.

Another significant clue was that since the faxes had been sent to the police, and the sender had used "keiji-tachi" in the first and second faxes (indicating the plural you for the police department) the victim was someone who was in some way associated with the police. The potential "victim" could have indicated that a police officer or detective had saved the department, but the wording was a bit off for it.

The third fax had thrown them for a loop. It had seemed that the "victim" in question had died when it said "his own killer needs to find justice" indicating that the person the sender was talking about had already died. With the arrival of the third fax, the police department had scoured for dead bodies in the area, but there had been no murders, suicides, or unusual deaths the past two days.

Yet the fourth fax said, "If he dies…" which didn't follow the same timeline. Whoever was sending the messages could have just been indicating that there was likely to be a killer and the would-be-killer needed justice.

Many questions arouse, but the arrival of the fourth fax left them baffled. Was the person dead or not? With this enigma eluding them, they had followed a more tangible lead.

Someone who brought killers to justice and someone who had saved the police pointed to two people in Megure-keibu's mind: Mouri Kogorou and Kudou Shinichi. However, the last fax, the one that said, 'Without his help, people would have died,' seemed to point more to Kudou-kun in Megure-keibu's mind. While Megure-keibu would be the first to admit he felt that Mouri-san seemed to carry around a death curse, Kudou-kun had had a similar effect. However, the difference between the two was that even though he was sure that Mouri-san had saved his fair share of people, he knew that Kudou-kun had been in situations where his quick thinking and his knowledge had saved lives.

"Sleeping Kogorou" acted more after-the-fact. Kudou-kun thrived in the heat of the moment, his brilliance being able to save and help others.

Additionally, the way that the sender had mentioned that the person had saved the police also alluded to Kudou-kun. He had been nicknamed, "The Savior of the Police Force" in some newspapers, once again making Megure-keibu feel that Kudou-kun was the person the faxer believed to be in danger.

There was also the nagging suspicion, as Takagi-kun had pointed out, that the third fax could mean that someone had tried to kill Kudou-kun, and the reason the high-school detective had been so allusive for so long was due to hiding from his own would-be murderer.

Unfortunately, Megure-keibu hadn't been able to get in touch with Kudou-kun since they'd received the last fax. He'd discussed his concerns to his subordinates, and despite all of their best efforts, they had been unable to reach the elusive teenager. They'd even had Satou-keiji call on the Mouri Detective Agency landline and speak to Ran-kun in a roundabout way to see if she'd heard from Kudou-kun lately, but she had only said he was working hard on a case and hadn't had time to call recently.

"Megure-keibu," Shiratori-kun spoke from the office doorway, interrupting Megure-keibu's thoughts. Shiratori-kun's voice strained as he gripped a sheet of paper in his hand.

"Another message?" Megure-keibu asked, standing and meeting Shiratori half way.

"A picture...with a warning. The warning said: _'Time's up.'_"

One look at the picture, Megure-keibu understood the strain in Shiratori-kun's voice. The photographer had zoomed up close upon the face featured in the photo. Even without the cryptic warning, the photo itself left Megure-keibu feeling unsettled with the strange intimacy of the angle. The fax had come through black and white, but Megure-keibu didn't need a color picture to know that the serious look of concentration in those eyes was a brilliant shade of blue.

The thoughtful face was familiar and beloved from all those in the police department. It was therefore no surprise at the urgency at Megure-keibu's next orders.

"Get Edogawa Conan-kun under police protection! _Now_!"

**Next Chapter: Phone Frenzy**

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I already have a good bit of this written, so if I'm slow to update, send me a message to remind me. Since it's already mostly written out, I plan to update once, maybe even twice a week. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

~ Jelp


	2. Chapter 2: Phone Frenzy

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 2: Phone Frenzy**

"Get Edogawa Conan-kun under police protection! _Now_!"

The Metropolitan Police erupted into a frenzy of activity at the orders. Shiratori-kun who had been the one to bring the fax pulled out his cell phone and dialed Conan-kun's teacher, Kobayashi Sumiko-sensei. Takagi-kun dialed Conan-kun directly, Satou-kun called Ran-kun, while Chiba-kun called Mouri-kun's cell. Megure-keibu, for his part, decided to call the detective agency, figuring Mouri-kun might be more likely to answer the landline if his mobile was upstairs.

The flurry and rush of activity began with the order and preciseness honed from years of experience and long hours working with each other. However, the urgency and worry came from the collective department's fondness for the young boy featured in the fax's picture, worry that something would befall the young sleuth who had, as the faxes described, helped out the department.

"Ran-san's phone says it's switched off!" Satou-kun replied angrily even as she dialed the number again.

"Conan-kun's too," Takagi-kun said forlornly. He began dialing another number, going on his instincts.

"Mouri-kun's cell is saying it's also switched off," Chiba-kun reported.

Megure-keibu let out a hushed curse as the landline kept ringing. He stuck his head from his doorway, barking orders to keep trying. Several other plainclothes detectives said that they had alerted the traffic department to keep an eye out for the child.

"Kobayashi-sensei says that the children left the school just a few minutes ago! She's going along their usual route to try and catch up with them now," Shiratori-kun informed them in a rush.

"Ah, Mitsuhiko-kun! Yes, yes, it's very important. Is Conan-kun with you right now? He's not? He just left? Where are you? It's very serious!" Takagi-kun's urgent voice rang with worry, carrying shrilly through the police department.

The sound of Ran answering on the landline almost startled Megure-keibu as his focus had been listening in on Takagi-kun's conversation.

"Ran-kun! Are you alright? No one is answering their phones. The Detective Agency's line has been ringing for ages too. Is everyone okay?...Yes? That's good. Is Conan-kun with you there?...What?...No, no...About five minutes," Megure-keibu had to pull the phone away from his ear as he heard Ran-kun yelling at her father for being a lazy, incompetent man. With a loud _clack, clink, clank,_ Megure-keibu realized that there had been a subtle sound of a horse racing game in the background that had been (clearly) turned off by an irate Ran-kun.

"So sorry, Megure-keibu," Ran-kun apologized. "Is everything okay? What do you need Conan-kun for? He should be on his way home from school now."

"We were concerned as we couldn't get in touch with any of you over the phone."

"Well, the truth is, we ended up getting soaking wet last night – long story – all of our phone batteries are in rice right now."

"Rice?" Megure-keibu asked, confused. "Ah, no, no. I don't really need to know. I just need to know if you know where Conan-kun is. It's urgent."

"Is something wrong?" Ran-kun breathed, worried. The line _time's up_ flittered through his mind, but as he didn't know what that meant for Conan-kun, he decided not to bring it up. Yet.

"It seems so. We need to find Conan-kun as soon as possible."

"What's the brat done now?" Mouri-san's slurred voice came from the background. For a moment, Megure-keibu hesitated. He wasn't sure if he wanted to let this piece of information come out over the phone in such an impersonal manner, but they needed to know.

"We think someone might be trying to hurt Conan-kun. There were threats sent to us in regards to him."

"_What_?!" both Mouri-san and Ran-kun screeched. "But his phone's here! We can't contact him!" Ran-kun added hysterically.

"Sir!" Shiratori reported in, cutting off Megure-keibu's conversation. "Kobayashi-sensei has met up with the other shounen-tantei-dan. Ai-chan was the last one to see him, but they can't get in contact with him."

"Mitsuhiko-kun and the other children have been trying to call him on their detective badges, but for some reason, Conan-kun isn't picking up," Takagi-kun added.

"Ai-chan says she saw him heading home along the usual route he travels when he leaves her, but they haven't been able to catch up with him. They're back tracking now to see if he wandered off somewhere," Satou-kun announced.

"Why are you all still here? We have a general idea of where he should be. Chiba! Satou! Takagi! Go look for him!" Megure-keibu bellowed.

"Hai!" his detectives chorused, each one jumping up and rushing out the door. Megure-keibu gave Ran-kun an update, telling her to stay put while the others looked for Conan just in case he came home and for Ran to contact them the moment he did.

Megure-keibu's attention was drawn from his phone conversation at the sudden gasp Shiratori-kun had let out.

"Shiratori-kun, any new news?" Megure-keibu wondered. Shiratori-kun 's face looked suddenly pale.

"They say they found him...he's...he's on the side of a building dangling from a window ledge!"

"What?! Get me that address! Let Takagi-kun and Satou-kun know!"

"Where is he?" Ran-kun demanded. Megure-keibu passed on the information, unsurprised but frustrated when she hung up the phone, clearly dashing to Conan-kun's side. Megure-keibu grabbed his jacket and adjusted his hat.

"Shiratori-kun, let's go!"

**Next Chapter: Unforeseen Dangers**

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Let me know your thoughts. :) ~ Jelp


	3. Chapter 3: Unforeseen Dangers

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 3: Unforeseen Dangers**

Not for the first time, had Edogawa Conan found himself in what would have been a bizarre situation to any onlooker, but seemed perfectly normal through his deductions.

While it was true that he was currently gripping the second floor window ledge of an abandoned building, one that was on his usual route home between where he dropped Haibara off and the Mouri Detective Agency, he was perfectly in his element.

The day had been pleasant enough. Despite having to suffer through the monotony of primary school again, his mind had been stimulated this Friday going over the rather gratifying Kaitou Kid heist the night before. Kid had gotten away, but Conan had managed to get the jewel back from the thief, even if it had resulted in him getting completely drenched in water due to Kid's set-up. His phone batteries for both his phones were currently sitting in a bag of rice in the apartment, hopefully drawing out the last vestiges of moisture. The one for his "Conan" phone sat next to Ran's, while his "Shinichi" phone and phone battery were stowed safely away in the small hiding place he used to hide his gadgets when not in use or at Agasa-hakase's.

Thinking of that, he had meant to ask Agasa-hakase about an upgrade to the battery in his watch.

On the way home from school, his musings had been interrupted as he'd noticed a rather unusual peculiarity in the building he was currently scaling. This particular structure had been abandoned for some time, and it was a wonder that it had yet to be demolished. So when he had heard what had sounded like the cries of a baby echoing through an opened window of the dilapidated building, an innocent life possibly in danger, he had naturally gone to investigate. The doors had been locked, and all the windows on the ground floor were sealed shut. Something about the doors and windows seemed off to him, giving him an unpleasant feeling, making him look for an opening all the faster.

Something about the entire situation felt off, filling him with adrenaline as his brain bypassed the details he usually would have spent more time analyzing, using his energy instead to reach the baby as fast as possible.

Conan looked back up at the building, noting that the window where he had heard the cries coming from was open wide enough that he could get into. Without hesitation Conan had climbed the tree next to the building in a matter of moments.

His detective badge had begun to beep (thankfully that hadn't been damaged with the water), but he'd ignored it as he focused on the task at hand, turning it off momentarily. He didn't want the device to start beeping and scare him or the already frightened child as he maneuvered himself to the ledge of the window nearest to the tree. Of course, if there was a person in the building besides the baby, Conan didn't want that person to be scared off until he had assessed the situation. Thankfully his nimbleness made it fairly easy for him to swing from the branch to the window ledge.

Conan's fingers gripped tightly to the outcrop, his fingers feeling the rough wood that was worn and softened from weather and the old paint that was peeling away. He rocked back and forth, his fingers slipping slightly against the peeling paint chips. He paused in his motions, readjusted his grip, and then began to rock back and forth again, building up momentum to fully hoist himself up. Just as he was about to swing his body up from the ledge to get a better look in the window, a startled and concerned cry of his name made him stiffen in all the wrong places –

"Conan-kun!"

– his grip loosened and the next thing he knew he was falling from the window.

"_Conan-kun_!"

Conan's body jerked to a startling and unpleasant halt mid-air as he hit a branch from the tree. He grasped at the branch desperately but his hand couldn't find traction. His decent had slowed when he'd hit the branch, but not enough as he plummeted to an abrupt stop landing in a bush. Conan tried to cry out in pain, feeling bruised and battered all over. Stunned, it took him a moment to get scope of his injuries. For a moment he couldn't breathe as the breath had been knocked from his body. Even as he tried to cough, it took him an unpleasant amount of shuddering tries to gulp air back into his lungs. When he tried to move, he hissed in pain. The shoulder he had landed on was dislocated, though he was, thankfully, rather injury free besides some gashes and bruises. Wincing, Conan saw that one of the tree branches he'd grazed on the way down had left a rather deep and jagged cut in his leg, blood oozing in a deep rivet from the open wound.

His friends – he recognized a chorus of voices belonging to Kobayashi-sensei and the shounen-tantei-dan – all came running toward him. Just as Conan went to reassure them that he wasn't that badly hurt, a horribly high pitched _ding!_ echoed from the window.

In an instant, a horrible feeling of dread welled up from the pit of Conan's stomach, right before a resounding din momentarily deafened them all.

_ BOOM!_

Heat poured out the open window where Conan had just been hanging from as a fireball's flames licked the edges of the building, debris spurting out. Small pieces hit Conan, though he managed to put his arm up to shield his head and eyes from the larger parts.

Still, his body went into overdrive, the pain from his injuries momentarily dulled as he scuttled out of the bush that had mercifully broken his fall. Conan hobbled onto his bleeding leg and yelled at his gaping friends to run in the other direction.

Once they reached the other side of the street, another series of deafening _booms!_ exploded from within the building as the heat from the explosion burst from the other rooms, glass shattering, the shards flying in a strangely mesmerizing way.

Sirens blared nearby. Conan had a moment to think that it was strange for the authorities to have been notified so quickly until he recognized the red Mazda RX-7 car that was speeding toward them like the devil itself. He recognized Satou-keiji's erratic faster than fast driving abilities screeching to a halt in front of the scene. She and Takagi-keiji emerged from the car, stood openmouthed, and stared at the now burning building before turning their attention upon the group off to the side, their eyes honing in on Conan.

With the way they stared at him, he had the wildest feeling that he should say it wasn't his fault, though a strange, inexplicable gut feeling told him the explosion had been because of something he'd done. He had a bad feeling about this.

**Next Chapter: The Scene**

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Hope you're enjoying the story so far! ~ Jelp


	4. Chapter 4: The Scene

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 4: The Scene**

As Ran ran, loud noises that sounded horribly like explosions rattled the windows in the buildings nearby. Mortified, Ran turned her head only to see smoke beginning to rise from the direction Megure-keibu had last reported Conan-kun's location. She thought she had been running as fast as she could before but found that suddenly she hadn't been running quite nearly as fast as she could.

More explosions, louder and more resounding echoed from the same direction. Most people were beginning to run the opposite way from the sounds of the blasts, Ran being one of the few running toward it. Heart pounding faster than her feet on the pavement, she turned the corner where the fire and smoke billowed, sirens already blaring.

It took her a moment to find him amongst the crowd that had gathered, but it was like he knew that she was there. Conan-kun's eyes darted over to her, wide eyed and surprised, looking ever like a terrified child. And he needed her.

She ran to him, taking in his battered and bloodied appearance. His arm hung at an odd angle. Bruises had begun to form all over his body while there was a large tear in his pants where she could see a jagged cut that had blood seeping from it. If it weren't for the way his body was tense with pain, she would have wrapped him in her arms and hugged him tight. As it was, he merely stared at her blankly. Her dear Conan-kun looked lost. Blinking several times, part of the tenseness began to leave him and the wild look in his eyes began to dull, replaced with the clear calmness she so often saw him wear.

The way he seemed to be masking his own pain and fears made her want to cry. However, before she could say anything, Satou-keiji was there, crouching next to him, looking over Conan-kun's injuries, her eyes full of worry, concern, but a firm determination.

"Conan-kun, what happened?" she demanded, her eyes fierce.

"I heard a baby crying...in...in the building," Conan-kun swallowed, the reality that the baby wouldn't have survived the explosion, settling through all of them. "I climbed the tree –" he pointed to the tree that was now on fire, "since that's where I heard the baby's cries coming from. But..."

His eyes lowered downward, his thoughts turning introspective as he brought his uninjured hand up to pose thoughtfully against his chin.

"Conan-kun?" Satou-keiji prompted, knowing, as everyone else did that Conan-kun had just figured something out but was likely to not confide his thoughts unless prompted. Ran had the sudden realization that if Conan-kun was going to tell them everything, his voice would be firm and direct. If he was hiding it, he would laugh it off with a childish disregard, saying it was nothing.

Ran was relieved that he chose the former.

"After I heard the baby, I tried the door and the windows on the first floor, but they were all sealed quite tightly. Isn't that odd?" Conan-kun asked, looking at Satou-keiji as though she should be able to follow his train of thought and realize why it was so strange.

Ran could see on Satou-keiji's face that she didn't understand, and that she, like Ran, couldn't follow his logic. Thankfully someone else voiced the concern.

"What was odd Conan?" Genta-kun pressed, looking excited. Conan-kun turned to look at him. Mitushiko-kun and Ayumi-chan chorused their curiosity while Ai-chan seemed contemplative, as though she out of all of them might actually have also spotted what Conan-kun had noticed.

"If a person had carried a baby into that room, it would be very difficult to do so by climbing a tree. They would have had to carry the baby and then try to get from the tree to the ledge. The window was barely open. Even if the person had somehow managed to get inside, it was clear that there had been no sign of a forced break in and the locks weren't picked. In fact, there was dust and dirt on them. If they had been disturbed recently, there would have been a mark showing use. Why would someone abandon a baby on the second floor where everything else was sealed tight except for the window on the second floor? Not to mention, if the person who had been there had used the window as his or her entrance, then it was rather small for an adult. It wouldn't be possible to close the window that much from outside of the building, meaning it had to have been opened from the inside. But the opening seemed just the right size for a child to fit through."

"Maybe they did use another entrance and just had the window open for the air for the baby?" Mitsuhiko-kun pointed out. Conan-kun shook his head.

"The air is chilly today, but the most telling part is there wasn't a screen on that window. The screens on the other windows were still there. If a baby was only put there today, then the other entrances would have shown use. In other words, it either means that the person was there for a very long time, or more probable, there wasn't a real baby, but a recording that someone put nearby, and that it has been inside the building long enough that the other entrance the person used has been closed for some time."

For emphasis, Conan-kun pointed to the building where they could see one of the bug screens partially blown out, its small wires caught and torn in the brittle edges of the now broken glass. Something heavy hung in the air as the realization that it had all seemed planned out a long time ago...planned for someone who would undoubtedly be drawn to investigate the sound of a crying baby, one who'd be able to just fit his small body through the narrow gap at the window, one whose curiosity wouldn't be sated until he figured out what was going on.

"It either means that there was someone in there with the baby who had enough supplies that they didn't need to leave for long periods of time...or it was a trick."

**Next Chapter: Unsettling Clues**

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Your thoughts? ~ Jelp


	5. Chapter 5: Unsettling Clues

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 5: Unsettling Clues**

Conan scanned the burning area, his mind analyzing and picking out minor details. The bush that had broken his fall had been uprooted and was now on its side from the force of the explosion from one of the rooms on the first floor. The other shrubbery around the area was still rooted, though some were now on fire.

The fire department rushed to the scene, their efforts to extinguish the fire before it spread also washing away and destroying evidence that Conan would have wanted to explore.

"So you decided to check when you thought you heard a baby crying?" Satou-keiji clarified.

"I climbed the tree to look," Conan explained.

"When we saw where he was," Kobayashi-sensei began, "we were quite concerned. It looked like he was just dangling from the open window. We didn't realize why he was there, but it almost looked more like he was trying to escape from the building rather than go in."

"I-I made him fall," Ayumi confessed, tears springing to her eyes. "He was swinging back and forth, and I got scared for him, and I called his name. He kinda turned to look at me and slipped and fell. Lucky that bush was right there to break his fall," Ayumi sniffled. She turned to look at him, apologizing over and over again.

"It wasn't lucky," Conan murmured.

"What do you mean?" Satou-keiji prompted.

"All the other bushes are still where they were. That bush, the one I fell on right beneath the window, was uprooted. The soil around its roots was a lot looser than the others, and it's a different type of shrub than all the others and is quite a bit taller than the other shrubs. It was only recently put there as though it was meant to break a fall." Conan fell silent, realizing all that he had said, then tilted his head to the side and laughed. "But that's just silly!"

"Not necessarily," Takagi-keiji interjected as he approached the group having run toward the building to check things out until the fire department arrived. He gave a loud cough, his clothes smelling strongly of smoke. "Conan-kun, we need to get you to the police station. We think someone is trying to hurt you."

Conan swallowed, his eyes going wide. He could feel Haibara stiffen. Both of them had the same thought – was it the Black Organization? For a horrible moment, it made terrible sense. With the explosions, the fire, and the water damage that would come from the fire department's efforts to put out the blaze, any chance at finding viable evidence would be slim to none: destroying evidence just as thoroughly as the Black Organization.

"Why do you think that?" Conan-kun demanded.

"There were threats warning about it."

Conan let out a deep breath. The Black Organization wouldn't have sent out a notice warning of his possible death, especially not to the police. His shoulders sagged in relief that at least it wasn't _them_, but as he did so, a blazing agony burst in his chest and arm, painfully reminding him of his dislocated shoulder.

"He needs medical attention!" Satou-keiji shouted over her shoulder. Her eyes caught those of an EMT that had arrived not long after the fire department. Conan tried to protest that he was fine, but Ran gave him a pleading look. Before he knew it, Conan found himself caught up in a whirlwind of concern and medical activity, the attendee quickly getting him into the ambulance, Ran hurrying in with him.

Really, Conan was sure that he didn't need to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, despite Satou-keiji's concern. He was sure he could have managed quite fine for a few hours. Yes, his shoulder needed to be set, and his leg would likely need stitches, but he would much rather have stayed at the scene.

As they rode in the ambulance, his mind began to whirl to life.

The room where Conan had tried to enter had exploded first. Conan had landed in the bush and had been there for a few moments before the explosion came. Despite the window being partially open, the window still would have shattered if the force of the blast from the ones downstairs had been the same. After all, the one near the bush that Conan had landed in had had the force to uproot it. The explosion in the opened room had been a smaller one than all the rest. Also, it wasn't until they had all gotten on the opposite side of the street that the explosions started going off on the first floor.

Before the explosion, Conan had heard a clear, high-pitched _ding!_ that had set off the bomb. It had been an immediate, no time delay explosion. If there had been some sort of trigger that set off the bomb when Conan had put his hand on the ledge, it would have exploded much sooner. Also, the bombs hadn't all gone off at once. No, each had been individually programmed, making Conan certain that they had all been set off by remote – all set off by someone who had been nearby. After the room he'd tried to enter exploded, the next ones to do so where all of the rooms on the opposite side of the building giving Conan enough time to hobble away.

Disconcertingly enough, if he happened to be the intended target, it seemed that the person had wanted to capture him first. But the fact that the house had been set to explode, but with a smaller explosion in the room with the open window it seemed like the person had meant for him to come in, yet was prepared to kill him if he attempted to escape, or scare him off if the culprit didn't manage to capture him.

Conan felt it was a good thing that Ayumi had caused him to fall before going into the room. What would have happened if he had entered? It was unlikely the culprit had been waiting for him in there. There wasn't enough time for the culprit to have been hiding in the room and then run out of the house and away from it before the explosions had started. He would have been trapped there.

And even though he knew it was better that he hadn't been in the room, Conan really wanted to know what had been in there.

Whoever had set this up had been watching him and had likely watched him for a long time. The person knew his route home, knew where he would be traveling the route alone, and knew what would have attracted his attention. They knew his skill set enough to know that he was able to climb trees, wasn't afraid of heights or falling, and would have made an effort to investigate a baby crying.

However, the person had also planned to cover up evidence in case others came looking. The response time to getting rid of suspicious information had been quick and immediate, also showing knowledge of Conan's relationship with the police. Or more likely, the person had wanted the police on the scene if they had been notified.

Why had the person sent faxes warning about it? That unnerved him. Maybe…maybe he had never been meant to make it inside the room. Perhaps that wasn't the attacker's aim. But why have the explosion at all? What was the purpose?

Conan also cursed his own senses. He was usually good at figuring out when someone had been watching him, yet he hadn't felt like anyone out of place had been watching him. It worried him.

What also had him worried was the shrub that had saved his fall. It was newly planted and was higher than the other bushes. Obviously Conan wouldn't want to fall out of a window again anytime soon, but as plants went, it really had been a good bush to land in. It was taller and cut in such a way that it had acted like a spring in slowing down his decent from the window. The only reason he had gotten as badly hurt as he had was because he had slipped in mid-swing and caught one of the branches from the tree. If he had been on the window ledge itself and had wanted to jump from it, he would have been able to land in the bush, likely getting quite a few cuts and scrapes, but he would have managed to walk away relatively unscathed.

Why would someone go through all the trouble to lure him there but give him a possible escape route? But if they had been watching, did that mean they knew he was in the ambulance? Would they try and capture him again? His eyes shifted over the people in the ambulance, his body tingling, knowing that this wasn't over.

**Next Chapter: Hospital Surprises**

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Hope you're enjoying the story so far. ~ Jelp


	6. Chapter 6: Hospital Surprises

**Through the Lens**

**Chapter 6: Hospital Surprises**

Conan lay on the hospital bed, doing his best to look like he was actually interested in the movie that Ran had chosen for them to watch. _Kiki's Delivery Service_ just wasn't holding his interest. He couldn't tell Ran that the way that Kiki flew on her broom didn't seem at all realistic, nor could he explain that the voice of the witch unnerved him. Ran kept giving him worried looks as she sat in a chair next to his bed, also not fully paying attention to the movie. It made his heart ache to see her so worried. Resigning himself, he did his best to pretend to be interested for Ran's sake. Sadly, having so little interest in the movie left him to wonder about his current predicament.

His biggest concern was that they were not letting him leave the hospital. He didn't like being cooped up in the hospital, unable to investigate while a series of people who he didn't know were in charge of the case. While there were a few people in the fire department and the bomb unit who he knew, he would have felt much more comfortable if division one had been fully in charge, and of course, if he was on the scene. Conan knew he could always weasel information out of the crime scene investigators, but it was harder if he wasn't there.

As it was, it seemed the entire police force was working as a team. Division two and three had managed to weasel into the case to see if there had been a theft of the keys or other things in the property. It seemed overkill, but as there had just been a Kid heist the night before, many of the Kid task force had found themselves overly zealous in wanting to help the "Kid-killer". However, the more people working on a case meant that the more likelihood that clues would be found. It also meant that one of the other departments would figure out information first, meaning that Conan wouldn't get the information right away. While they were helpful, they didn't know the way he worked – and vice versa. If he were there, he could actively work out the clues as he discovered them.

Another concern that Conan had about being kept in the hospital was that a nurse or doctor could walk in the room to check on him, but how would Conan know if these people were really who they said they were? What if they were the person responsible for attacking him? From the people who were coming in and out of his room, he'd already deduced that one of the nurses was a drug addict who stole medication meant for patients to use. She likely used some of it and sold the rest to get money for drugs. He'd mentioned this to the police officer on duty. The officer had done a little investigation to find that yes; the hospital had recently reported significant losses in its inventory, one significant enough that it had actually resulted in the death of a patient who had needed medication but the hospital had been unexpectedly out of it. Once this came to light, it had resulted in the nurse confessing her crimes.

Conan sighed. Obviously things like this happened everywhere; it was just that he was able to see it. Things like that occurred every day, but they nonetheless made him worry.

One of the doctors also made him suspicious. Despite his age, the doctor seemed to not know his way around the hospital, meaning that today was his first day on the job. These types of suspicious behaviors kept Conan on edge. He'd feel much safer at the Mouri Detective Agency or at Agasa-hakase's where he could monitor the people he interacted with.

When Conan had first arrived at the hospital, the doctors had ordered a series of x-rays. Two hours ago the doctors had set his shoulder and not long after they had stitched up his leg. However, they had ordered another series of x-rays on his entire body, not just the areas he'd mentioned had pain. No one had said that his injuries were life threatening, but the fact that they were doing more tests and not telling him why had Conan beyond frustrated.

Conan knew that there were dangers of things being left undiscovered in a fall like he'd had if they didn't take x-rays, but he couldn't well explain that he'd had plenty of worse injuries and knew that he would be fine. He supposed it was better that the doctors be safe than sorry. Conan just wished they were sharing more information with him.

Instead of watching the movie, he looked over at the vases of flowers that his friends had sent him. One was from the detective boys who had dropped the flowers off personally before heading down to the station to give their statements. One of the vases had been from the forensics department that had a card signed from all the crime scene investigators, the note promising they would do their best without him there. The last vase had been from Kobayashi-sensei. She'd also brought him a book of puzzles, but they were all childish. However, with the lack of stimulation from the moving, Conan was actually toying with browsing them out of pure boredom.

Conan's ears perked up as he heard the familiar, disgruntled footsteps of Mouri Kogorou walking down the hall, his eyes tearing away from the flowers. Occhan had gone to the scene where Conan had been injured to see if he could help the investigators find anything. Honestly, Conan wasn't relying on the man's detective skills to unravel anything (though he was competent on occasion), but he did hope that Occhan had news.

Just before the footsteps reached the door, the sleeping detective stopped. Conan made out the silhouette of Kogorou-oji-san and one of the doctors outside of the door, along with another man. Even through the closed door, Conan could make out parts of their conversation.

Conan could only hear bits of the beginning of an argument, but it wasn't until Kogorou-oji-san's outburst that the other man (the-not-doctor) spoke loud enough for Conan to hear.

"I will only repeat myself once! We are taking Edogawa Conan into our custody due to the clear signs of child abuse."

"Excuse me?" Kogorou-oji-san bellowed from the hallway. At this point, Ran looked at Conan in horror, her head twisting toward the door. Suddenly the request for a full set of x-rays and why the doctors had been less than forth coming about why made terrible sense.

"After taking a series of x-rays, it's appalling to see the amount of healed fractures this child has. There are old fractures located in his spinouse processes, sternum, ribs, and acromion. There are bucket handle fractures and corner fractures in his metaphyseal region and even diaphyseal and spiral fractures. These are indicative of a child who is grabbed and shaken forcibly by an adult resulting in serious fractures that have had to heal on their own. The boy was lucky that he didn't receive more damage from the fall, but we were appalled to see the healed fractures because it means that these injuries are all old – and they're all extensive. It's like looking at the image of a child who has had most of the major bones in his skeleton broken and put back together again," the doctor explained, his voice harsh.

Conan froze. That actually might not be far from the truth in his case, though not because of child abuse. As far as he knew, Haibara had never taken x-rays of his body before and after his experiments with the temporary cures for APTX 4869, but he was fairly certain he would have sustained some sort of injury. Idiotically, he'd never really thought about what it had done to his body. His bones would have had to grow and expand when he returned to normal and then break and fuse back together again when he shrank. It would make a lot of sense for there to be evidence that his bones had shrunk and compressed back together. While it all seemed to heal (he didn't want to say magically since he didn't believe in magic or miraculously because that also indicated something he couldn't explain) it all just seemed to heal without a hitch.

He had never stopped to wonder how or why. While Mouri Kogorou could be physically aggressive at times, Conan had never felt particularly threatened by him. The only injury he would have likely sustained from Mouri would have been a cerebral fracture (one that the doctor hadn't mentioned) meaning Mouri had never bashed his head in hard enough to fracture his skull. Which...well, wasn't good that he did that, but meant that Conan wasn't abused...much.

"Well, it wasn't me! Probably his parents! They dropped him off on us. You said they were all old, right? Makes a lot of sense that his parents did it since he never talks about them and doesn't want to go back to them, come to think of it. He looked horrified the one time his mother did appear."

Conan felt like someone had struck him in the stomach. That had been true. He had been mortified. It had been his mother disguised as…his mother, strangely enough, but he hadn't known it was her since she was wearing a disguise, and he hadn't known that his parents knew that he'd shrunk. He fervently hoped that the doctors didn't try to contact his mother. Conan was without his phone and hadn't gotten a chance to call and talk to her.

Too late he realized he hadn't masked the surprise and fear on his face. Ran looked at him in something akin to horror, misinterpreting his fear. Conan quickly schooled his features, but the damage was already done.

"The signs are clear. If it wasn't you, it had to have been _someone_. Even so, we need to talk with him to ascertain who did this to him."

"His parents probably abused him. You can't take him away from us, or they'll probably do it again," Occhan argued.

Thinking fast, Conan had to come up with a believable lie as to how he may have sustained injuries he didn't even know about. Doctors who found abuse injuries could tell from the type of incident if it could have possibly inflicted the injury mentioned. Without knowing all the injuries his growth spurts had given him, it would be hard to come up with believable stories. The door opened, and Conan's mind whirled.

**Next Chapter: Blatant Lies**

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All the fractures mentioned are generally signs of children who have been harshly shaken or hurt due to abuse. More information on them can be found here (replace the word dot with a period): radiologyassistant dot nl/en/p43c63c41ef792

(For anyone who didn't understand why Conan was bothered by the voice actress who does the Japanese voice for Kiki in the _Kiki's Delivery Service_ is because she is the same actress who does the voice for Conan. Kudos to those who caught it!)

~ Jelp


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